Model of the Week: Chanel Iman

If you haven't heard of Chanel Iman yet, get ready, because this teenager might just be the next supermodel. The 5'9" Korean-American/African-American stunner has worked for a long list of designers including Christian Dior, Valentino, YSL, Ralph Lauren, Marc Jacobs, and Oscar de la Renta. Oh yeah, and she's already been on the cover of Vogue. Not a bad resume for someone who only recently turned 18.

I had a moment to talk with Chanel before the Erin Fetherston show, and although she was a bit under the weather, she was kind enough to answer a few questions. I found her good-natured, funny, and intelligent, and I think you will, too. Read on!

How does Fashion Week feel now compared to when you were starting out?
I still love it. And you have to love what you do and really enjoy it. It's always been a job and I've been very professional about it, but now it's a career: not just a job, but a career. I look at it a little differently, you know? I need to be on point at all times.

To find out about Chanel's formula for beautiful hair and skin,

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How does it feel when you see yourself in Vogue or when you're on the cover of a magazine?
Well, I feel very proud. I think I'm not only representing myself on the cover of Vogue, I'm representing other people, like my family and my friends. It's not just me on the cover, it's everybody around me that's helped me, everybody that's rooting for me. So I'm very blessed and very thankful for everything.

How do you take care of your skin?
When I come from a show, I never go to sleep with all my makeup on. I never have dry lips, and you should always wash your face at night. I use an Aveda face scrub — it's really good — and a little bit of moisturizer. That's pretty much what I do.

What about your hair? How do you keep it healthy?
My hair? Ooh, we've got some problems with the hair. [laughs] I always wash my hair once a week. For a black girl, hair is different. I always have to have my edges, which is the front of my hairline, very clean and very fresh and straightened out. A little Vonté wax, a little bit of shine to your hair. African-American hair needs oil because it's not naturally oily. Some people's are, but some aren't. So a little bit of oil, a little bit of shine, a little bit of wax, and you're all good.

What kind of makeup do you use when you're not working?
I actually don't wear makeup. If I do wear it, let me see . . . I wear different things. A little bit of Lancome, Estee Lauder. I always carry around this thing called Rosebud, from Sephora. You can use it for anything: your cuticles, your mouth, your skin.

It seems like more people are talking about diversity — or lack thereof — on the runways. What are your thoughts?
I think it definitely needs to happen soon. I think this is what happened: A long time ago, people used to come to shows for the models and not the clothes. The designers now want the models to all look the same so people can focus more on the clothes than the model. And I think that's why we have a lack of diversity. But I think it would be more interesting on the runway to see different faces from all over the world. People would really want to come to these shows, to see the models and the clothes. I think that's really smart for designers to use different women. If they do use different nationalities, that will attract more customers.

Wow, she's absolutely gorgeous! I couldn't believe she was only 18 at the beginning of the article, considering that I feel like I've heard about her spectacular modeling for years now, but at the end of it, I was even more surprised. She seems so down-to-earth, friendly, and well-informed about her career choice. Can't wait to see more of her work :)

korean boys/men often try too hard to make their hair stick waaaaaaay up (like they just poked their finger in an electrical socket). the thickness and weight of our hair + force of gravity doesn't make this an easy task.
if we were to pick certain features that "look korean", her eyes have that slanted almond shape that many people associate with asians. i think she's very lovely.

First of all, love her! so cute, I wish her continued success.
Secondly, as an African-American/Middle-Eastern woman, I can honestly say, yes, our hair, especially Black hair, is harder to maintain. Even she said "we've got some problems." The problem is that we try to maninupulate our hair into styles that are not naturally easy for our textures. I'm not complaining about it, because I love my hair bone straight! Just saying, it is harder to maintain, no matter what tools you're using, it's going to take more time and effort than someone of European descent.
Now if i decided to go natural, I'm sure it would be just as easy as any other race, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that route

LOL belladande :)! Well spoken. Some comments really sound like if they're from stereotype hillbillies explaining their stereotype perspectives of the world.
Chanel Iman is really pretty and she seems nice, too. It's interesting that you sometimes see more her African-American background (like on that blog cover pic). And then again on some pics her Asian features seems more dominant.

love her!
and yeah her mom is half-korean. i read that plus i can see that. my korean friend and I were talking about how half-korean, half-black mixes tend to look korean (of course with some diff features like darker skin color etc.) and her mom looks korean. chanel on the other hand looks black. it's crazy how genetics work
her mom is really pretty too.

kitkatherine,
Just LOL! I find it interesting when the features of people of different ethnicities are spoken of as if they belong to space aliens. It's hair and it's no more difficult to take care of then any other human hair. It's a different texture so different techniques and tools are used. I'm sorry that your ex didn't make that more clear.

she is so cool. she really impresses me. she's not dumb, she's intelligent, and she's cool as hell. not that models are dumb, but she really just lets people know she is who she is i think.
and she's pretty.
but i'd imagine that korean/african hair would be hard to take care of. both those background have more difficult hair, i remember my ex-boyfriend hated his hair (he was korean) because it didn't fall right and he had to put wax in it all the time to keep it from puffing and stuf.